In 2005 I started a part-time project to document the history of
phone phreaking
(huh? what?), focusing on the 1960s through the 1980s.
It's since turned into a substantially-more-than-full-time effort.
I've interviewed hundreds of people -- phone phreaks,
telephone company employees, law enforcement personnel,
spooks, you name 'em.
I've waded through thousands of pages of newspaper and magazine
articles, books, court cases,
FBI files, telephone company memos, and government documents.

All to answer questions like: How did phone phreaking start?
Who were the first phone phreaks? What motivated people to
undertake this interesting but illegal hobby? What did the
telephone company think about them? How did the government
view them?